Suu Kyi deputy released to house arrest

The deputy chairman of the Burmese opposition, the National League for Democracy, has been released to house arrest after eight months in prison.

Relatives of Tin Oo, 77, said he had been moved on Saturday night to the capital, Rangoon, from Kale prison in the north-west. "Except for being slightly thin, Tin Oo is healthy and fine," a family source told Associated Press.

Armed security officers surrounding his home said only members of his family were allowed to visit him.

"It is good for him and his family, but it is difficult to interpret this as significant progress," an NLD official said. "We still don't have access to him."

The military junta is still showing no sign of wanting to include the party in its embryonic road map to democracy.

Tin Oo was detained after an incident on May 30 last year when, according to witnesses, hundreds of government-hired thugs ambushed NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi's convoy near Mandalay in northern Burma. He was never charged.

The witnesses say dozens of people were killed in the incident. Diplomats believe there were many fatalities. The government says four died.

Ms Suu Kyi and hundreds of her supporters were rounded up, mostly, the government said, "for their own safety".

Ms Suu Kyi, released in September, refuses to accept her freedom until all those held after the Mandalay attack are released. More than 150 political prisoners have been released but Ms Suu Kyi, the NLD chairman, Aung Shwe, and Tin Oo remain under house arrest.

The party offices are shut and its activities are severely restricted, although in recent weeks some branches have resumed their monthly meetings.

The military, which seized power in 1962, has announced a seven-stage road map to democracy and is keen to be seen to be involving many of the country's ethnic minorities.